Racism and friendship in Garry Disher's Divine Wind

Discrimination is defined as the behavior towards a certain group of people that involves restricting or excluding members of the group from certain openings that other groups can avail. There can be several reasons for discrimination and some of them are:

Discrimination on the basis of racism

Discrimination on the basis of ethnic background

Discrimination on the basis of religion

Discrimination has been one of the major problems of the world and among these reasons; discrimination on the basis of racism has been most common.

Because of differences in human races there are inherent differences in traits and abilities of the people and therefore certain groups of people belonging from a specific race are not given equal rights or equal opportunities. In today's world everyone thinks that their own race is superior to the others and therefore they do not see others as equal. Racism is also defined as the practice of treating people differently because of differences in race (Nazroo, 2003).

Over the passage of time, the term racism has changed and it is more used now as treating people differently on the basis of racism. In different parts of the world discrimination on the basis of racism, ethnic background and religion is very common (Williams, Neighbors, and Jackson, 2008). United Nations convention argues that there should be no discrimination on the basis of races and ethnic background. United Nations want the world to be free from discrimination of all kinds so that everyone can be treated equally. Also many writers and scholars have written stories, novels and book on various dimensions related to discrimination. This report is also about a novel 'Divine Wind' written by Garry Disher which emphasizes on racism.

Broome - a multicultural town

Broome is a small town of Australia located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and 2,200 km north of Perth. It is famous for tourists. During the peak season of tourist, population surged to the number of 45,000 and its original population is about 15,000. In order to transport goods to different cities, regions, and town, Broome International Airport plays integral part.

The men and women who made the pearling industry were being exploited. Most of Japanese drivers lost their live that used to work in this industry. Many of them lost their lives at sea and the exact number of death is not published. Japanese community, the major ethnic group, gathered for the shore based activities and supported to harvest oysters from the waters around Broome though they were considered enemies. They played crucial part for the industry until World War II. On March 1942, Japanese aircraft launched attack on Broome and the air raid killed more than 80 people.

Broome is one of the fastest growing towns of Australia due to mining industry and tourism. In Broome, prejudice was considered normal and widely accepted in families. During 1930's and 1940's, women were not given such respect as the man was given. Racism was common and was the root cause of tensions between different communities especially Whites and Japanese which created stumbling blocks between Hart and Mitsy.

Novel in context of "Racism"

Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason." Abraham J. Heschel.

The Diving Wind, a tense and fascinating story. The main theme of "Divine Wind" is perhaps Racism, detestation and mistrust which tarnished the image of Australia particularly Broome. It is important to mention here, Broome is also acknowledged as place of many cultures. At the time of Divine Wind, there were many cultures present, which encompass English, The Aboriginals, The Japanese and The Malaysians. English and the Malaysians like Aboriginals used to live in the outback whereas The Japanese used to live in Chinatown. Due to multicultural town, prejudice and discrimination was very famous as English people were being paid more than Aboriginals and The Japanese. Due to war, English became pugnacious not only for The Japanese but also for Aboriginals. Distrust became the huge problem between them and they refused to accept them as a part of the society. Due to cultural diversity, the tensions grew rapidly and raised the question for The Japanese and Aboriginals that where to live, in which part of the town and how. They were not treated equally. All communities used to live according to their culture and living conditions.

During World War II, the gap between Australian and other communities became wider due to conflicting attitudes, different cultures, and different religion. The main triggering event of racism was War between Australia and Japanese. Right through the novel, sign of partition was observed and presented. Due to War, Japanese were alienated from white Australians. A list "Register of Aliens" that kept records of foreign people, this shows that foreigners was being traced and considered as aliens and were not even considered the part of Australia. The name of Sennusukes' (meaning "too foreign to our ears") had to be changed. Chinatown, where Japanese used to live, shows that whites gave them their own little area. The houses in Chinatown were very smaller and with fewer facilities than that whites were enjoying.

The narrator of this story is Hart penrose. Many Japanese used to work under the supervision of Hart's father as he employees them in his pearling fleet. His father was the owner of the pearling fleet. Among many Japanese families, one family was much closed to Hart's family and that family was of Mitsy's family. Hart falls in love with Mitsy. In childhood, Mitsy and the sister (Alice) of Hart, used to play together, going to cinemas for watching movie, went school together. The war turned them into enemy and created a rift between them. The love, caring, and loyalty converted into disloyalty and hatred. The hart stated to distrust on Mitsy and forgot his past which he spent with Mitsy. Later, Alice went to Singapore. She joined army as a nurse and was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. Hart's got injury in his leg on the back of storm at sea which urge to stay at home. He was totally changed and frustrated. Despite all tension, he gave shelter to Mitsy and her mother due to threat of imprisonment. The event faced by Alice in Singapore in the form of abducting and the sever attacks by Japan on Australia changed the attitude of Hart's toward Mitsy and he became racist and started prejudice against other communities. Even though Mitsy and her mother did nothing against Australians but they faced severe problems from Whites.

The prejudices and War created havoc among the peaceful people (Hart, Mitsy and Alice) and wrecked the love story. Ethnic intolerance increased further. When the War approached, it truly was a "Divine Wind" plundering all the relationships between Hart and Mitsy. At the start of the war, no one considered their workers as enemies and but growing intolerance created havoc among communities. The Derby Boxer was convicted by the Courts of Law on the back of fake evidence on the basis of ethnic status. The sarcastic media added fuel to the fire as radio broadcasting spreading the incorrect news which created hatred and fuels apprehension amongst people. The Whites got very angry and started campaign that we will not rest until all the Japanese would be cleared from the earth. A local defense group consists of individuals like Major Morissey and Lester & Olive Webb started fight against Aboriginals and Japanese. Major Morissey became rude racist and was with the view, "if your Jap painted his face with burnt cork, which would be the wiser?"

Initially, Hart and his father saved many people from diverse cultures and races (like Derby and Mitsy). In response, they faced criticisms from their community. Someone criticized the Penrose by saying are you running a Brothel. Do you need more Jap whores? Which pressurized them and they both had to succumb in front of racism. Gradually, Hart became less benign due to pressure from his community. Hart was too confused between two cultures as his lover belongs to Japanese culture and his sister who was captured in Singapore by Jap and his father who is famous in Australian community. At the start of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was neutral but later it started to corrode. Later, Hart totally turned as a deliberate racist and his loved started declines for Mitsy and finally his feelings was totally shattered and uttered "You Bitch." Due to rejection of Mitsy culture by Hart, their relationship became weaker and weaker.

A touching love story

Then tin-walled cinema located in Sheba Lane where Hart fell into love with Mitsy. In Cinema, where cowboys traveled the range and airmen emissary slipped away from foreign countries in the dark night and beautiful women was saved by white hunters from annoyed rascal elephants. Mitsy was slim, beautiful, gentle, restless and jubilant in nature like Alice. In dim light, she was sitting quite and motionless, the screen was glowing with lovers and heroes, very emotional and busy in watching movie, unnoticeably her shoulder and knee touched with Hart. On the right side of Mitsy, Alice was sitting, she turned her head and started to gaze her brother but didn't say anything to him, didn't annoyed both because it was all unintentional. When lights turned on, Mitsy didn't acknowledge the closeness but simply treated Hart as gang again. Sometimes, Hart thought that he was dreaming of her. But it was a reality.

Conclusion

The underlying message behind the "Divine Wind" is that one cannot bear the differences in culture and race having narrow minded community. The primary reason of racial tension sparked in the communities and turned into actions owing to involvement of both Australia and Japan in the war. Later, war engulfed both communities and love and peace converted into turmoil which created prejudice, hatred, hostility in their hearts. At the conclusion of the Novel, Hart perhaps made oblivious the degree to which racism has permeated the whole community: "We may not make it."